Diamond
Banned
I watched this movie last night on TCM. It is supposedly based on actual events. Takes place in 1904 Morocco and stars Sean Connery as a powerful Berber chieftain who kidnaps an American woman (Candace Bergen) and her two kids to extort rights for his people from the Moroccan sultan.
It backfires on him, as Britain, France, Germany, and Russia use the incident to try to grab territory in the region. Then Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Keith in a great performance) gets in on the act, using the press to turn Connery's character into the 'last of the Barbary pirates' to get US public support behind him (TR) in his bid for re-election.
German forces eventually capture Connery and have him prisoner in a fortress pending trial. Meanwhile, a US Marine contingent has landed and freed Candace Bergen, who insists they then free Connery (who she's fallen in love with). The Marines storm the German-held fort, killing dozens of the Kaiser's soldiers and freeing Connery. Its then implied that the US installs a new puppet sultan in Fez and has 'control' over Morocco.
A lot of this is obviously blatantly inaccurate, but it has the potential to be a good 'Earlier Great War POD', don't you think? At any rate, it was a pretty decent movie.
It backfires on him, as Britain, France, Germany, and Russia use the incident to try to grab territory in the region. Then Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Keith in a great performance) gets in on the act, using the press to turn Connery's character into the 'last of the Barbary pirates' to get US public support behind him (TR) in his bid for re-election.
German forces eventually capture Connery and have him prisoner in a fortress pending trial. Meanwhile, a US Marine contingent has landed and freed Candace Bergen, who insists they then free Connery (who she's fallen in love with). The Marines storm the German-held fort, killing dozens of the Kaiser's soldiers and freeing Connery. Its then implied that the US installs a new puppet sultan in Fez and has 'control' over Morocco.
A lot of this is obviously blatantly inaccurate, but it has the potential to be a good 'Earlier Great War POD', don't you think? At any rate, it was a pretty decent movie.